core

Web
programming

Java Input/Output

2001-2003 Marty Hall, Larry Brown http://www.corewebprogramming.com

Agenda
Handling files and directories through the
File class
Understanding which streams to use for
character-based or byte-based streams
Character File input and output
Formatting output
Reading data from the console
Binary File input and output

Input/Output

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File Class
A File object can refer to either a file or a
directory
File file1 = new File("data.txt");
File file1 = new File("C:\java");

To obtain the path to the current working directory use

System.getProperty("user.dir");

To obtain the file or path separator use

System.getProperty("file.separator");
System.getProperty("path.separator");
or
File.separator()
File.pathSeparator()
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Input/Output

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Useful File Methods

isFile/isDirectory
canRead/canWrite
length

Length of the file in bytes (long) or 0 if nonexistant

list

If the File object is a directory, returns a String array of all the

files and directories contained in the directory; otherwise, null

mkdir

Creates a new subdirectory

delete

Deletes the directory and returns true if successful

toURL

Converts the file path to a URL object

Input/Output

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Directory Listing, Example

import java.io.*;
public class DirListing {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File dir = new File(System.getProperty("user.dir"));
if(dir.isDirectory()){
System.out.println("Directory of " + dir);
String[] listing = dir.list();
for(int i=0; i<listing.length; i++) {
System.out.println("\t" + listing[i]);
}
}
}
}

Input/Output

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DirectoryListing, Result
> java DirListing
Directory of C:\java\
DirListing.class
DirListing.java
test
TryCatchExample.class
TryCatchExample.java
XslTransformer.class
XslTransformer.java

Input/Output

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Input/Output
The java.io package provides over 60
input/output classes (streams)
Streams are combined (piped together) to
create a desired data source or sink
Streams are either byte-oriented or
character-oriented
Use DataStreams for byte-oriented I/O
Use Readers and Writers for character-based I/O
Character I/O uses an encoding scheme

Note: An IOException may occur during

any I/O operation

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Input/Output

Character File Output

Desired

Methods

Construction

Character File Ouput

FileWriter
write(int char)
write(byte[] buffer)
write(String str)

File file = new File("filename");

FileWriter fout = new FileWriter(file);
or
FileWriter fout = new FileWriter("filename");

Buffered Character
File Output

BufferedWriter
write(int char)
write(char[] buffer)
write(String str)
newLine()

File file = new File("filename");

FileWriter fout = new FileWriter(file);
BufferedWriter bout = new BufferedWriter(fout);
or
BufferedWriter bout = new BufferedWriter(
new FileWriter(
new File("filename")));

Input/Output

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Character File Output, cont.

Desired
Character Output

Methods
PrintWriter
write(int char)
write(char[] buffer)
writer(String str)
print( )
println( )

Construction
FileWriter fout = new FileWriter("filename");
PrintWriter pout = new PrintWriter(fout);
or
PrintWriter pout = new PrintWriter(
new FileWriter("filename"));
or
PrintWriter pout = new PrintWriter(
new BufferedWriter(
new FileWriter("filename")));

Input/Output

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FileWriter
Constructors
FileWriter(String filename)/FileWriter(File file)
Creates a output stream using the default encoding

FileWriter(String filename, boolean append)

Creates a new output stream or appends to the existing output
stream (append = true)

Useful Methods
write(String str)/write(char[] buffer)
Writes string or array of chars to the file

write(int char)
Writes a character (int) to the file

flush
Writes any buffered characters to the file

close
Closes the file stream after performing a flush

getEncoding
Returns the character encoding used by the file stream
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Input/Output

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CharacterFileOutput, Example
import java.io.*;
public class CharacterFileOutput {
public static void main(String[] args) {
FileWriter out = null;
try {
out = new FileWriter("book.txt");
System.out.println("Encoding: " + out.getEncoding());
out.write("Core Web Programming");
out.close();
out = null;
} catch(IOException ioe) {
System.out.println("IO problem: " + ioe);
ioe.printStackTrace();
try {
if (out != null) {
out.close();
}
} catch(IOException ioe2) { }
}
}
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Input/Output

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CharacterFileOutput, Result
> java CharacterFileOutput
Encoding: Cp1252
> type book.txt
Core Web Programming

Note: Cp1252 is Windows Western Europe / Latin-1

To change the system default encoding use
System.setProperty("file.encoding", "encoding");

To specify the encoding when creating the output steam, use an

OutputStreamWriter
OutputStreamWriter out =
new OutputStreamWriter(
new FileOutputStream("book.txt", "8859_1"));
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Input/Output

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Formatting Output

Use DecimalFormat to control spacing

and formatting
Java has no printf method

Approach
1. Create a DecimalFormat object describing the
formatting
DecimalFormat formatter =
new DecimalFormat("#,###.##");

2. Then use the format method to convert values into

formatted strings
formatter.format(24.99);
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Input/Output

Formatting Characters
Symbol

Meaning

0
#

Placeholder for a digit.

Placeholder for a digit.
If the digit is leading or trailing zero, then don't display.
Location of decimal point.
Display comma at this location.
Minus sign.
Scientific notation.
Indicates the location to separate the mattissa from the exponent.
Multipy the value by 100 and display as a percent.

.
,
E
%

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Input/Output

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NumFormat, Example
import java.text.*;
public class NumFormat {
public static void main (String[] args) {
DecimalFormat science = new DecimalFormat("0.000E0");
DecimalFormat plain = new DecimalFormat("0.0000");
for(double d=100.0; d<140.0; d*=1.10) {
System.out.println("Scientific: " + science.format(d) +
" and Plain: " + plain.format(d));
}
}
}

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Input/Output

NumFormat, Result
> java NumFormat
Scientific:
Scientific:
Scientific:
Scientific:

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Input/Output

1.000E2
1.100E2
1.210E2
1.331E2

and
and
and
and

Plain:
Plain:
Plain:
Plain:

100.0000
110.0000
121.0000
133.1000

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Character File Input

Desired

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Methods

Construction

Character File Input

FileReader
read()
read(char[] buffer)

File file = new File("filename");

FileReader fin = new FileReader(file);
or
FileReader fin = new FileReader("filename");

Buffered Character
File Input

BufferedReader
read()
read(char[] buffer)
readLine()

File file = new File("filename");

FileReader fin = new FileReader(file);
BufferedReader bin = new BufferedReader(fin);
or
BufferedReader bin = new BufferedReader(
new FileReader(
new File("filename")));

Input/Output

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FileReader
Constructors
FileReader(String filename)/FileReader(File file)
Creates a input stream using the default encoding

Useful Methods
read/read(char[] buffer)
Reads a single character or array of characters
Returns 1 if the end of the steam is reached

reset
Moves to beginning of stream (file)

skip
Advances the number of characters

Note: Wrap a BufferedReader around the FileReader to

read full lines of text using readLine
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Input/Output

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CharacterFileInput, Example
import java.io.*;
public class CharacterFileInput {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File file = new File("book.txt");
FileReader in = null;
if(file.exists()) {
try {
in = new FileReader(file);
System.out.println("Encoding: " + in.getEncoding());
char[] buffer = new char[(int)file.length()];
in.read(buffer);
System.out.println(buffer);
in.close();
} catch(IOException ioe) {
System.out.println("IO problem: " + ioe);
ioe.printStackTrace();
...
}
}
}
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Input/Output

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CharacterFileInput, Result
> java CharacterFileInput
Encoding: Cp1252
Core Web Programming

Alternatively, could read file one line at a time:

BufferedReader in =
new BufferedReader(new FileReader(file));
String lineIn;
while ((lineIn = in.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(lineIn);
}

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Input/Output

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10

Console Input
To read input from the console, a stream
must be associated with the standard input,
System.in
import java.io.*;

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public class IOInput{

public static void main(String[] args) {
BufferedReader keyboard;
String line;
try {
System.out.print("Enter value: ");
System.out.flush();
keyboard = new BufferedReader(
new InputStreamReader(System.in));
line = keyboard.readLine();
} catch(IOException e) {
System.out.println("Error reading input!"); }
}
}
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Input/Output}

Binary File Input and Output

Handle byte-based I/O using a
DataInputStream or DataOutputStream
DataType
byte
short
int
long
float
double
boolean
char
String
byte[]

DataInputStream
readByte
readShort
readInt
readLong
readFloat
readDouble
readBoolean
readChar
readUTF
readFully

DataOutputStream
writeByte
writeShort
writeInt
writeLong
writeFloat
writeDouble
writeBoolean
writeChar
writeUTF

The readFully method blocks until all bytes are read or an EOF occurs
Values are written in big-endian fashion regardless of computer platform
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Input/Output

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UCS Transformation Format

UTF-8
UTF encoding represents a 2-byte Unicode
character in 1-3 bytes
Benefit of backward compatibility with existing ASCII
data (one-byte over two-byte Unicode)
Disadvantage of different byte sizes for character
representation
UTF Encoding
Bit Pattern
0xxxxxxx
10xxxxxx
110xxxxx
1110xxxx

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Representation
ASCII (0x0000 - 0x007F)
Second or third byte
First byte in a 2-byte sequence (0x0080 - 0x07FF)
First byte in a 3-byte sequence (0x0800 - 0xFFFF)

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Input/Output

Binary File Output

Desired

24

Methods

Construction

Binary File Output

bytes

FileOutputStream
write(byte)
write(byte[] buffer)

File file = new File("filename");

FileOutputStream fout = new FileOutputStream(file);
or
FileOutputStream fout = new FileOutputStream("filename");

Binary File Output

byte
short
int
long
float
double
char
boolean

DataOutputStream
writeByte(byte)
writeShort(short)
writeInt(int)
writeLong(long)
writeFloat(float)
writeDouble(double)
writechar(char)
writeBoolean(boolean)
writeUTF(string)
writeBytes(string)
writeChars(string)

File file = new File("filename");

FileOutputStream fout = new FileOutputStream(file);
DataOutputStream dout = new DataOutputStream(fout);

Input/Output

or
DataOutputStream dout = new DataOutputStream(
new FileOutputStream(
new File("filename")));

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Binary File Output, cont.

Desired
Buffered Binary
File Output

Methods
BufferedOutputStream
flush()
write(byte)
write(byte[] buffer, int off, int len)

Construction
File file = new File("filename");
FileOutputStream fout = new FileOutputStream(file);
BufferedOutputStream bout = new BufferedOutputStream(fout);
DataOutputStream dout = new DataOutputStream(bout);
or
DataOutputStream dout = new DataOutputStream(
new BufferedOutputStream(
new FileOutputStream(
new File("filename"))));

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Input/Output

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BinaryFileOutput, Example
import java.io.*;
public class BinaryFileOutput {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] primes = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 11, 17, 19, 23 };
DataOutputStream out = null;
try {
out = new DataOutputStream(
new FileOutputStream("primes.bin"));
for(int i=0; i<primes.length; i++) {
out.writeInt(primes[i]);
}
out.close();
} catch(IOException ioe) {
System.out.println("IO problem: " + ioe);
ioe.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
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Input/Output

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Binary File Input

Desired

27

Methods

Construction

Binary File Input

bytes

FileInputStream
read()
read(byte[] buffer)

File file = new File("filename");

FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream(file);
or
FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream("filename");

Binary File Input

byte
short
int
long
float
double
char
boolean

DataInputStream
readByte()
readShort()
readInt()
readLong()
readFloat()
readDouble()
readchar()
readBoolean()
readUTF()
readFully(byte[] buffer)

File file = new File("filename");

FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream(file);
DataInputStream din = new DataInputStream(fin);
or
DataInputStream din = new DataInputStream(
new FileInputStream(
new File("filename")));

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Input/Output

Binary File Input, cont.

Desired

Methods

Construction

Bufferred Binary
File Input

BufferedInputStream
read()
read(byte[] buffer, int off, int len)
skip(long)

File file = new File("filename");

FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream(file);
BufferedInputStream bin = new BufferedInputStream(fin);
DataInputStream din = new DataInputStream(bin);
or
DataInputStream din = new DataInputStream(
new BufferedInputStream(
new FileInputStream(
new File("filename"))));

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Input/Output

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14

BinaryFileInput, Example
import java.io.*;
public class BinaryFileInput {
public static void main(String[] args) {
DataInputStream in = null;
File file = new File("primes.bin");
try {
in = new DataInputStream(
new FileInputStream(file));
int prime;
long size = file.length()/4; // 4 bytes per int
for(long i=0; i<size; i++) {
prime = in.readInt();
System.out.println(prime);
}
in.close();
} catch(IOException ioe) {
System.out.println("IO problem: " + ioe);
ioe.printStackTrace();
}
}
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Input/Output

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Summary
A File can refer to either a file or a
directory
Use Readers and Writers for characterbased I/O
A BufferedReader is required for readLine
Java provides no printf; use DecimalFormat for formatted
output

Use DataStreams for byte-based I/O

Chain a FileOutputStream to a DataOutputStream for
binary file output
Chain a FileInputStream to a DataInputStream for binary
file input
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Input/Output

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15

core

Web
programming

Questions?

31

2001-2003 Marty Hall, Larry Brown http://www.corewebprogramming.com

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